


Mr. Brightside

by EliDeetz



Series: What Happens In Vegas [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Dean loves vegas, F/M, Fluff, vegas fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 18:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13596069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliDeetz/pseuds/EliDeetz
Summary: Gabriel notices how much he has changed lately. It all becomes more evident when Dean improvises a trip to the city of sin: Las Vegas, Nevada.Inspired by Mr. Brightside - The Killers





	Mr. Brightside

It was a quiet day at the bunker.  

In retrospect, it had also been a quiet and slow week.

Times past, Gabriel would immediately snap himself to the closest beach, drink a couple piña coladas and nail every girl sporting a bikini. But things had changed.

 _He_  had changed.  

Nobody had asked him to do so, he just started to without noticing. At least he was aware it’d all began when he met  _her_. The little doe-eyed hunter who looked at him dumbfoundedly as she stood between the Winchesters. Gabriel had no idea who she was, given that she wasn’t around when they were trying to stop the Apocalypse.  

As much as he tried, he couldn’t ignore the strong pull he felt towards her. He knew it wasn’t good news; he knew tagging along with the Winchesters was a bad idea. But he wanted her, to protect her, to be with her.  

He would only join them on hunts, _at first._  Making sure she went unharmed, giving everyone that met the Winchesters seemed to die. But not her, not if he could avoid it. Gabriel would normally leave after every hunt, but as time went on, it appeared as if she enjoyed his company.  

It started with her inviting him for a couple of celebratory drinks, ignoring the Winchester’s complaints. Soon, he would join her in solo hunts whenever two urgent cases popped up. And before he realized it, he was spending days with her at the bunker when she would decide to let the boys deal with a case by themselves.  

She was a quiet person, almost the complete opposite of him. Someone who would rather spend time with her loved ones at some bar than go out and get shitfaced in a club. When Gabriel started to feel attracted to her, he found himself not wanting to mess around as much, nor hook up with random girls anymore.  

He felt stupid. One day, he was The Trickster, who could be anywhere and have anyone he wanted. The moment he met her, he settled down and chose to take care of a human.

It was horrible, frustrating, stupid, crazy.

On the bright side: it was love.

So, there he was, sitting silently in the war room, feet up on the table, watching her simply reading. If it had been him, _before_ , he would’ve gone insane from boredom already. But he, _now_ , could spend an eternity watching her simply relaxing.  

Hopefully it wasn’t as creepy as it sounded.  

Wearing a white tank top and shorts, she was leaned back on her chair, her bare legs up on it as well, and the book resting on her knees. Her long lashes shadowed intricate lines on her make-up free features, while her full lips formed a pout. Gabriel smiled to himself when noticing her squinting her eyes, that gesture meant she was re-reading something she hadn’t understood.  

“Need help with anything?” He interrupted with a soft voice.

Her eyes darted from the book to him, her confused expression turning into a warm smile. The archangel felt his stomach turning inside him; he swore he was going to start puking butterflies if she kept on looking at him like that.  

“No, I’m just tired, words look blurry.” She laughed, putting the book down on the table and rubbing her eyes.  

“Maybe you need glasses,” he suggested, taking advantage of the moment to lean closer to her, as much as the table between them allowed him to do so. “Maybe you shouldn’t read so much.”

“Are you suggesting reading too much might be making me go blind?” She asked, a smile beginning to pull her lips.

“Sorry to tell you this, ma'am,” Gabriel said in a serious tone, suddenly standing by her side, now completely dressed up in a doctor’s outfit. “My diagnosis is that you may have a very serious reading problem.”

The girl laughed loudly at his game, deciding to play along. “What would you recommend me to do instead then, Doctor? There’s nothing interesting to do!”

“I have the perfect solution for that,” Dean’s voice came from the hallway, Sam following behind. The archangel frowned in annoyance, since the blonde had completely ruined his moment to ask her out. The couple turned their attention to Dean, both their eyebrows raising in curiosity. “Vegas, baby.”

Gabriel snorted, “Vegas? Are you serious?”  

“Deadly.” His tone turned as serious as his face, noticing the girl’s mouth opening in disbelief. “Look, there’s no cases, and we haven’t taken a vacation in a  _long_  time. Plus, I may go insane if we don’t leave the bunker right now.”  

“ _Right now?_ ” She repeated his words incredulously, peering beside him to notice a packed bag at his feet. Her panicked eyes turned to Sam.  

“Right now,” the younger Winchester confirmed, his own bag hanging from his shoulder. He looked as mortified as she did.    

“We leave in 20, pack stuff for a week or so,” Dean ordered, already making his way to the garage.

Instead of fighting him, she stood from her chair. A shrug was all she gave to the archangel, as he stood defeated in place, watching her go towards her room.

Surely, there would be more than one chance to ask her out in Vegas.

* * *

“Why Vegas? It’s a night city, a mess everywhere; aren’t we supposed to relax during vacations? ” She whined from the backseat, the scowl on her face causing Gabriel to chuckle. “I don’t even have Vegas-worthy outfits.”

They’d been on the road for a couple of hours already; Dean wanted to arrive as soon as possible. The girl was leaning against the door, arms crossed, and her legs were up on the seat and across Gabriel’s lap, who was struggling not to get too handsy.

“Come on, killer. Drinks, gambling, partying, what else could you ask for to relax?” Dean encouraged, looking at her from the rearview mirror. “What the hell are  _Vegas outfits_ , anyway?” He asked his brother, who simply shrugged.

“We already drink enough to be considered alcoholics, we make bets whenever we play pool at the bars, and partying isn’t really my thing,” she muttered, her lips forming up a pout.  

The archangel bit his lower lip, wondering how her lips would feel against his. Or his neck, or his…

“Shouldn’t we have a say in picking the place to travel to, though?” Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts, causing him to swallow hard while trying to focus back on the conversation. “Sam, do  _you_  wanna go to Vegas?”

“Not since last time,” he responded with a grimace.

Gabriel’s brows raised as he shared a look with the girl next to him. “Do we wanna know?” He asked, wondering what’d happened last time.

Sam simply looked at him dead in the eyes, barely moving his head side to side. 

“What about Cas? Did you even invite him?” She kept on questioning Dean.

“He is invited, but we won’t tell him until we’re there. We’re picking him up in Denver; he’s following up some trace,” the older Winchester explained, seemingly content with his plan.

The girl finally decided to give it up, rolling her eyes and sighing heavily as she tilted her head back, closing her eyes.  

“Wake me when we pick up Cas,” she said to Gabriel, her forehead tampered with little frowns. He silently wished he could kiss them away.

* * *

Fifteen hours later, the bright neon lights from the city welcomed the three hunters, angel and archangel traveling in the impala. The streets were filled with people wearing flashy outfits and costumes. Gabriel glanced at the girl seated between him and his brother. Her eyes widened at the view, while she herself seemed to shrink into her seat.

“I still fail to understand the purpose of driving eighteen hours to get drunk in an unknown city,” the trenchcoated angel spoke up, watching wasted people on the sidewalk. “Do they even remember they were here?”

“That’s the point, Cas. What happens in Vegas, you know?” Dean replied, excitedly checking out every girl that caught his eye.

“Is that what we’re here for?” Castiel inquired, panicking slightly at the concept.

“Kinda,” the blonde chuckled. “Actually,  _I_  have made it my goal to get  _you_ , and Little Miss Sunshine over there, laid.”  

Something seemed to shift in the atmosphere; Gabriel unconsciously clenched his fists at Dean’s words. He wondered what that odd, sick feeling bubbling in his stomach was.

“Laid?!” She snapped, deeply blushing. “What the hell, Dean?”

“Oh, come on. When was the last time you blew off some steam? You need to relax,” he teased, his brows wiggling, while giving her a stupid, shit eating smile.

The archangel had to fight the raging desire to punch the smile off of Dean’s face. He  _had_  to calm down.  On the bright side, she didn’t seem too excited with the idea.

“It hasn’t been that long,” she mumbled nervously.

The oldest Winchester threw her a knowingly glance from the rearview mirror, quietly waiting for her to tell the truth.

“Leave her alone,  _Dean_.” Sam warned, watching how red she’d turned at his question.

“Okay, it has been  _that_ long.” The girl sighed, avoiding the looks from the four men, who’d turned to s her in amusement. “It’s just hard, you know? To have a one-night stand, or whatever. Heaven knows I’ve tried.”

“I believe heaven is unaware of your efforts to have sex,” Castiel assured her, smiling comfortingly.  

Her chuckles were the only thing that allowed Gabriel to remain sane; he really wasn’t liking this whole conversation. At all. He wished he could do something about it, knowing that once Dean set himself a purpose, he’d go down trying to make it happen.  

“Yeah, heaven also knows how many guys you’ve punched for hitting on you,” Sam laughed, remembering the last time she’d knocked some guy out for trying to whisper cheesy pick-up lines in her ear.  

“I’m certain it doesn’t,” Castiel reassured.

“Relax, sugarplum. You don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing,” Gabriel intervened, staring deeply into her eyes. If he couldn’t stop Dean, he could at least avoid her sleeping with some drunk.

Unless, she  _did_ wanted to. That horrid feeling punched him in the gut once again.

Was the car getting smaller? He could swear it was. And those stupid neon nights. They were making him dizzy, he felt something wanting to come up his throat. The archangel shrugged away those feelings, waiting for her to talk.

But she said nothing, and remained quiet the rest of the ride to the hotel.

* * *

“Guys, this is a bad idea,” her muffled voice came from the bathroom, where she’d locked herself for at least an hour.

The four men in the room were waiting for her, all of them already dressed up. Dean had somehow managed to convince Castiel to  _at least_  lose the trench coat and the tie. The brothers, for a change, weren’t using plaid, but formal pants and dark colored, button ups, a blazer on top. Gabriel had snapped something similar for himself, complete with a leather jacket instead.

“ _Come on_ , don’t think too much about it. We’re all dressed up!” Dean attempted to encourage her, his tone more annoyed than anything.

“Let us see. If you don’t feel good about it, just go back and change,” the brunette suggested, earning a menacing glare from his brother.  

The sound of the door opening up after a long silence, sent breaths of relief amongst the four men waiting excitedly for her to come out. She peeked out from behind the door, letting them see how she looked with a full face of make-up on, and her hair in a messy updo.

Dean’s jaw fell, while his brother’s eyes widened in surprise. Gabriel felt a punch in his gut, and tried to brush the sudden feeling away. The girl hesitated for a moment, but Castiel’s soft smile allowed her to relax.

Finally getting out of the bathroom, she stood nervously in place to let them see her outfit. A tight black dress hugged her figure, short enough to show her toned legs. Short heeled, electric blue, shoes, gave a spark of color to the whole look.

“What do you think?” She asked shyly, when not a single one of them said a thing.

“You look amazing,” Gabriel blurted out, almost breathless.  

A wide smile pulled her lips, her body visibly relaxing once everybody else agreed with the archangel.  

“Let’s go then! Night’s young,” the oldest Winchester chirped, clearing his throat before making his way to the door.

The impala was clean and ready for them, waiting at the entrance of the hotel. Dean walked around it, checking it meticulously, leaning in closer every time he saw something out of place.  

“Dean,  _come on_. The car’s fine, let’s get going.” Sam pressed, while trying to give his best apologetic smile to the valet.  

“Where are we going?” The blue-eyed angel asked, opening the door for the girl to climb in.  

“First, we’re getting some warm up drinks. Then, we’re going to Hard Rock, to make some money. Then, once we’re warm and ready, we’re going to find you two someone attractive to have some fun with,” he cheerfully explained once everyone was inside the car.

“Don’t say  _warm and ready_ ,” she grimaced, moving stray hairs away from her forehead.

Gabriel leaned back towards the door in an attempt to admire her better once again. Without giving it a thought, he helped brush the hairs out of her face, causing her to focus her whole attention on him. A shy smile adorned her face, making him grin dumbfoundedly as well.  

“You look really beautiful, sugar,” he said in a low voice, so only the two of them could hear. “You’re gonna kill ‘em all with that smile.”  

He wanted to punch himself in the face, them who? He didn’t want her to smile like that for anyone but him.  _Relax, focus_ , he berated himself.  

The night had just started.

* * *

A little more on the tipsy side, the five of them were at the Hard Rock Casino. Unsurprisingly, Dean had been stripping people of their cash at the poker table, while the others shared drinks at the bar.

“How much longer are we staying here?” Castiel inquired, bored already. Alcohol hadn’t affected him yet, it would take more than the five shots he had at their first stop.

“Why don’t you ask Mr. Poker Star over there?” His brother suggested, nodding his head towards where Dean was.

“It will be a while if he keeps winning; he’s very good at it,” Sam noted, taking a sip of his beer. “We may stay here the rest of the night.”

The girl groaned, throwing her head back dramatically. The sudden movement, plus the liquor she’d ingested, caused her to lose her balance. The archangel caught her, placing an arm around her waist, her head falling back on his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered as she met his, giving him a wide smile. That smile he loved so much.

He hoped he was the only one that could make her smile like that.

“Easy there, party girl. You might wanna take it slow with that champagne,” he suggested, bringing her closer, his hand caressing her hip.  

A soft chuckle left her chest, he felt her relaxing against him. Gabriel could smell the flowery scent of her shampoo, and feel the warmth of her skin transferring into him through his clothes. He knew that wasn’t possible, it was most likely him just getting worked up by the contact.

“I’ve only had two glasses,” she protested, pouting at him.

The archangel felt himself tensing, the chance was right there. All he had to do was lean down a couple of inches, and press his lips against hers. It seemed so easy.

Yet, it really wasn’t.

“I’m going to get Dean.” Castiel’s voice snapped him back to reality, making him almost grumpy by ruining his moment. “I want to leave now.”

“Eager to get laid?” He teased his younger brother, earning an annoyed glare from the blue-eyed angel.

The girl moved away from Gabriel, leaving him feeling oddly bereft as she did so.  He watched her rest her elbows on the bar, with her face on her hands. Silence crept upon them, and he saw a very familiar frown form on her face.

“You okay?” Sam asked her, seating closer and mimicking her position.  

Her glassy eyes moved from the flute of amber liquid to the younger Winchester, and she tried her best to gift him a careless smile. “Yeah, I just… you know.” She slurred her words, more from embarrassment than anything else.

The archangel cleared his throat, sidling closer to join the conversation. “ _You know,_  what?” He inquired, meeting Sam’s similarly worried gaze.

She took a sip from her drink, moving her head to the side. “It’s silly, but I’m just….” Hesitation was almost palpable in her words, even more so when she kept on drinking. “I’m kinda nervous…” She mumbled.

Gabriel’s brows darted up, not really expecting that answer. He saw Sam reacting the same way, each one waiting for the other to say something to her.  

“Nervous about what?” The brunette finally asked, playing with the beer bottle in his hands.

“That whole  _one-night stand_  thing, you know; I haven’t done it before.  _Ever,_ ” she stressed, brushing away strands of hair from her face nervously. “Doesn’t mean I don’t wanna have sex, I just don’t wanna do it with a complete stranger.”

He opened his mouth to speak up, to reassure her she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to, but she kept on talking, “But Dean is right, I need to let myself go a little bit. Especially after  _so long_. I mean all of you do it,” she muttered.

“Sugar, I haven’t - ” he stopped cold, biting his tongue before anything else came out.  

Just what the fuck was he trying to tell her?  _I haven’t had sex since I met you?_  That was lowkey, a confession right there. It wasn’t the time nor the moment. Let alone with Samsquatch seated right next to them.

She stared at him with wide eyes, silently pressing him to keep talking. He swallowed hard, slightly squinting as he pretended he wasn’t going to say anything. The way she stared into him made him question whether she could suddenly read his thoughts.  

“Alright, time to go!” Dean’s loud voice caught the attention from the trio in the bar. He strutted up to them with a cocky smirk. “Got us enough money to stay at least another week,” he smirked.

Castiel followed closely behind, rolling his eyes at the Winchester. “I don’t want to stay another week, Dean,” he stated firmly.

“Aw,  _come on_. It’s barely our first day here, Cas. Don’t be such a party pooper,” the blonde replied, walking toward the casino’s exit.

A breath of relief left Gabriel’s chest; he stayed behind for a moment, shutting his eyes as he tried to calm down. Amber met blue when his eyes fluttered open to find his brother standing in front of him. Castiel stared at him with his usual permanent frown, head tilting to the side.

 _What’s the matter?_ He asked him in a way only the two of them could hear.

 _What? Nothing, what do you mean?_ The archangel answered, too quickly to seem normal.

_You’re acting strange, brother._

“Shut up, Cas,” Gabriel suddenly snapped, walking faster to catch up with the brothers and the girl.  

* * *

The loud music and flashy lighting of the place was overwhelming. Even more when so many people were around them, dancing, screaming, laughing. Gabriel pondered upon the when he would spend most of his time in that type of ambience.  

He’d had plenty of fun, there was no denying that. Still, those times were nothing compared with how content he felt whenever he was with her.

There were no parties, no loud music, and sometimes, no “fun times” at all. But he was with her, and that was enough. More than enough. He wondered if she felt the same way, or whether she just simply put up with him since he was always there.

He shrugged those thoughts off, trying to focus back on the moment. They five of them were around a tall circular table. Dean had his two victims at either side, talking, as they seemed to be looking at everybody at the club.

Quite a few guys had approached her already, but she’d accidentally drove all of them away. Dean was about to go insane with frustration, so he decided to focus on Castiel for now.

In an attempt to loosen up a little more, she’d drunk a bit more than usual. It showed in the way she shifted around happily, seemingly moving her body with the music, a silly grin on her face.

The archangel chuckled, pressing himself closer in a desperate need to smell her scent once more. He felt stupid, needy, and slightly creepy. But Dean was working on trying to get her laid with someone that wasn’t him, and he could feel himself going insane with jealousy.

“Alright, then. Sam!” The older Winchester called for his brother, urging him to scoot closer. “We’re going for those three girls over there, and then -”

“Dean, no.” The brunette quickly spat.

“Yes, the blonde one seems to like Cas; he needs wingmen, I can’t take two girls.” Everybody at the table stared at him, slightly surprised by his words. “Well,  _I can_ , but not tonight, come on.”

Drunk Sam was easier to convince to go along with everything, given he didn’t fight back anymore. “Gabriel, stay with her. Just so they don’t think she’s with  _us,_ ” he ordered the archangel, who only raised his brows in response.

Something lit up in the back of his brain: another chance. He smirked, and quickly stepped closer to her, grabbing her by the waist. He wiggled his brows at her, once they were close enough.

“Better listen to Dean-o, right? Don’t wanna cockblock, little Cas,” he said close to her ear, making sure she could hear over the noise.

His breath hitched when feeling her actually pressing herself back against him, placing her arms on top of his, and forcing him to dance along with her. “Yeah, yeah, of course,” she mumbled with a wide smile, rocking their bodies side to side.

It suddenly turned into one of those moments. A moment where he could swear his heart would explode with happiness. They had become more frequent since he met her. Gabriel closed his eyes, letting himself be guided by the girl’s drunk dance. His head fell into the crook of her neck and he buried his nose in her hair.

Suddenly, he felt her moving around. He opened his eyes to find her turning around to face him, as she wrapped arms around him and placed her head on his shoulder. The archangel was able to listen to her giggling as they danced.

“Having fun?” He leaned in closer to ask.

“Of course I am!” She answered, a little too loud. “I’m with you, Gabe! I always have fun with you,” she cooed against his ear.  

He simply smiled, unconsciously holding her tighter.

“I have a secret,” she said after backing up a small distance, looking him directly in the eye. An eyebrow raise was his only response. “I think… that you’re the most amazing archangel in the world.” She confessed in a failed whisper.

“Just how many do you know?” He joked, “and why is that a secret?” He laughed, rubbing her back lovingly.  

“I dunno, I mean… Sam and Dean always complain about cha'… D'you think they’d get mad if I told them?” Her brows furrowed in concern, causing him to chuckle even more.

“If you told them  _what?”_  His heart suddenly began to beat a thousand times faster, realizing he was reading too much into her words.  

He felt tempted to break his promise, and take a peek through her thoughts. He hadn’t done it in a couple of years. But he couldn’t; he didn’t wanted to break another promise, not to her. Instead, he took a deep breath to calm himself down as he waited for her to continue.

But she couldn’t, given that a noisy group of girls crashed into them causing her to almost lose her balance. Luckily, he was right there to catch her. The girl whined, but the group was too focused on themselves to pay attention. One of them carried a pot and was wearing a flat cap and a short cloak. The group floated around the place while guys approached them, placing bills and coins in the pot, kissing the girl with the hat.

“What are they doin’?” She asked curiously, already forgetting they’d pushed her.

“It’s her Hen Night, sweetheart. They’re selling her kisses for change. It’s an Irish tradition,” he explained, watching the group wander off.

“That looks like fun,” she muttered, hugging him once again. “Can you get me another drink?” The girl batted her eyes at him, pouting like a child.

The archangel walked to the bar, trying to squeeze himself between all the people wanting to get their drinks. After a moment of being unsuccessful, he remembered the only thing he needed to do was to snap his fingers to get drinks. He felt completely stupid, but that was just the effect she had on him.

As he tried to make his way back to the table, he noticed more people around it. It was the girls from the bachelorette party, and another group of guys following them around. When they finally moved away, he was able to locate the girl.

Still in the same spot he’d left her, the flat cap the bride-to-be had been wearing was now on her head. She also happened to not be alone anymore. Seemingly standing on her toes, she had the arms of some guy around her, as they kissed.  

Gabriel felt an excruciating pain in his chest. He would later berate himself for exaggerating, but he swore the pain was worse than when Lucifer stabbed him. The thought of snapping the guy’s ass into oblivion crossed his mind, but he was far too shocked to do anything.

“Gabriel,” his brother called, shaking him in order to get his attention. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time he’d called his name.  "Gabriel, what’s wrong?“

Without a word, he disappeared from the place.

* * *

It’d been a couple of hours since he bolted. He sat far up in the mountains, watching the lights from the city shining from far away. His heart beat painfully in his chest as he stared into nothingness, a shock wave going through his body over and over again.  

He clenched his fists from time to time; it suddenly felt weird, being in that vessel. Breathing felt heavy, his eyes wouldn’t focus on anything.

He felt lost. Alone. Heartbroken.  

A too familiar sound of fluttering wings caught his attention, and he straightened his back automatically. "Leave me alone, Cas,” he quickly spat, not daring to look at his brother.

“You are in love with her,” the angel affirmed, walking closer to him.

An exasperated sigh left Gabriel’s chest as he stood up to maintain distance. “Congratulations, Columbo, you solved the case. Roll credits!” He said sarcastically, clapping at his brother. “You can leave now.”

“You have to tell her,” Castiel pressed, not willing to let go so easily.

“Uh, did you or did you not just see her leave with fucking Hercules himself?” The archangel inquired, wishing he didn’t possess the ability to know such things.  

His brother shifted awkwardly in place, thinking about what to do or say. They stared at each other in silence, until a strong punch at Gabriel’s throat made him flinch.  

 _They’re kissing. It’s only a kiss_ , he thought, doing his best to try and block the scene from his mind. His stomach was sick, and his eyes squeezed shut, being unable to ignore the mess in his head.  

He could watch her going to bed, touching his chest, taking off her dress.  

Gabriel pressed his fingers into his eyes, he couldn’t look, it was killing him. But the scenes took control, making him heave. Jealousy made him physically ill, he swore he was going to choke on just the air around him.

There wasn’t another way to describe what he felt, but as torture.  

Whether by destiny’s hand, or whatever else, the archangel swore he was paying for all the wrongdoings he’d committed throughout his existence.  

He realized Castiel had been talking to him, but he couldn’t listen. The flood of thoughts in his brain made him dumb, useless, insane. His brother’s voice was nothing but a muffled sound, distantly coming from somewhere in the universe.

It wasn’t until he noticed half the lights of the city go out that he understood Castiel was trying to calm him down. That was enough to ground him, both literally and figuratively.  

“Fuck,” he sighed.

* * *

He tried to stay away; he’d determined to do so.  

But there he was, sitting with the boys and his brother, as they tried to cure their hangovers with greasy breakfasts, waiting for her to come down from her room. His amber eyes wandered around the hotel’s dining room, anxiously tapping his feet against the floor.

“Knock it off,” Dean snarled at him, drinking his third cup of coffee.  

He didn’t. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he went totally numb once he finally saw her. Wearing the same old jeans and flannel shirt she often wore, the girl walked towards them with a soft smile across her face.

“Good morning!” She greeted them, receiving nothing but groans from Dean and a soft nod from Sam. “Someone had fun last night,” she chuckled, staring at the oldest Winchester while taking a seat at the table.

“Oh, yeah… it’s just the morning that ain’t as fun,” he muttered, pressing his forehead against the table dramatically.  

Sam was about to say something, when she placed eyes on the archangel and punched him softly in the arm. “Where the hell did you run to last night? You disappeared on me,” she pouted at him.

Gabriel took a moment to react, blinking repeatedly as he tried to come up with a coherent answer. “Well, you… you seemed,” he mumbled, doing his best to remain calm. The image of her kissing that other guy, going to bed with him, was interfering with his composure.

“Seemed to me that  _you_ were having too much fun to notice anything going on around you,” Sam interrupted, saying exactly what Gabriel would’ve, had he been feeling better.

“Oh, please!” She waved her hand in front of him, scrunching her face in response.  

“Hey,” a stranger approach them shyly, causing her to jump as she turned to meet him.

He was tall, almost as tall as Sam. He had blonde hair and deep blue eyes, a muscular body and a million-dollar smile across his face.  

“Hey, Steve,” she said cheerfully, gifting him a half smile. It didn’t take long for anybody at the table to realized he was the guy from last night.  

Gabriel swallowed hard, taking a deep breath as he focused on not leaving the hotel without power; they’d enough trouble after what happened the night before. But jealousy was once again gnawing at his insides, and he couldn’t help it.

“Hey, sorry for interrupting your breakfast,” the guy directed his apology to everybody, quickly focusing back on her only. “Me and my friends are on our way out to the airport, so I just wanted you to have this.” He handed her a folded paper with ten digits scribbled on it. “If you’re ever in New York, let me know,” he added with a bright smile.

“Of course,” she immediately said, taking the paper from his hand and standing up to place a soft peck on his cheek. “Take care of yourself, okay?”  

The four men at the table watched the scene attentively, glancing at each other in silence until he finally left. Once she sat back on her chair, she encountered the looks on their faces.

“ _What?_ ” She asked poignantly.  

“You know what,” Sam laughed, the teasing against her commencing once more.

Breakfast continued in that vein, with them trying to make her _spill the beans_  about her night with the Adonis, until both brothers stood up to grab more food from the buffet. Gabriel abruptly stood from his seat as well, far too wounded and upset to continue witnessing the conversation.  

“Where are you going?” The girl grabbed his wrist in an attempt to stop him, causing him to shiver at their contact. Her forehead furrowing in concern.

“Out,” he grated, pulling his arm away from her to quickly walk away.

“Gabriel,” she called his name loudly, immediately following behind. She finally caught up, her grasp stronger when taking his wrist once more, forcing him to face her. “ _Gabriel_ , what’s wrong?”  

“I can’t do this!” The archangel finally snapped, allowing all the feelings he’d been repressing flow freely. “I can’t do this,” he repeated, his head falling as he took her hands in his.

The young woman faltered, feeling almost scared by the sudden shift in his demeanor. “You… can’t do  _what_?” She asked in a whisper, lowering her head as she searched his face. “Gabriel…”

He took a moment, breathing in heavily, before raising his head just enough to look her in the eyes. “I can’t keep acting like I don’t… like it didn’t killed me seeing you kissing that guy…” He began to explain, holding her hands tightly, “like it wasn’t torture to know what you… were, knowing that you were together last night.”

Her mouth fell in shock; for a moment she forgot how to breathe.  

“I’m so sorry,” he continued, after realizing she wouldn’t talk. “I seriously can’t keep pretending I’m okay with just being your friend. You need to live your life, without me being jealous over every-”

“Gabriel,  _stop_.” She finally breathed out, placing her hand over his mouth. “I didn’t – Steve and I didn’t have sex.”

The world stopped as he stood dumbfounded, feeling her soft fingertips against his lips.  

“I know it’s hard to believe, but… we didn’t. I mean, we did kiss, and we went to my hotel room together, but… that was all,” she mumbled her words, closing her eyes as she tried to focus on explaining herself after his confession.

“Wh-  _what?_  How?” Gabriel didn’t mean to ask that. “I mean,  _why_  didn’t he? I would.”

A relieved chuckle left her chest, while her cheeks burned red. “I was too drunk; he kissed me because the girls from the bachelorette group put the hat on me. Then he took me to my room and stayed, because I…. well, I started crying.” She confessed, rubbing the back on her neck in embarrassment.

He raised a brow at her, waiting for the rest of her story. “Because you left,” she added.

His mouth formed an “o” as he nodded softly. “Sorry?” He mumbled.

Gabriel felt himself melting when she smiled once again, even more when she took his hands tightly in hers. “According to Steve, I talked non-stop about you the whole night. He stayed until I finally fell asleep, waiting for you to come back.”  

She sighed in exasperation when he said nothing more, groaning before speaking again. “I love  _you_ , Gabriel. Do I have to spell it out?”  

The archangel felt stupid, blind, a complete and utter moron. The whole scene that had been repeating itself since the night before was all in his head.  And there only.

“Did I fuck it up? Oh, God, I did, didn’t I?” Gabriel noticed her freaking out when he hesitated longer than he’d intended. “I am so sorry, Gabriel. I -”  

He finally cut her off, pressing her close as he placed his lips against her soft ones. She quickly relaxed at the touch, twining her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Gabriel remembered she actually needed to breathe, and separated just enough for her to do so, keeping their foreheads together.

“About damn time,” Dean’s voice sounded from behind, causing them to turn in surprise. “I tell ya, if this whole thing didn’t work, I was completely giving up on both of you.”

“Dean, what the fuck?” She laughed, burying her reddened face against Gabriel’s chest. “You planned this? Did we really just come to Vegas for  _this?_ ”  

“Hell no,” Sam snapped. “He’d been planning on making one of you jealous to see if something happened for a while now. Vegas came out of nowhere,” he assured them.

“Thanks, Dean-o,” Gabriel smiled at him, hugging the girl in his arms tighter.

“Just know if you hurt her, you’re dead meat.” The older Winchester said, already walking back to the restaurant alongside his brother and the trenchcoated angel.

The couple stared at each other in silence, silly grins on both of their faces.  

_It started out with a kiss._


End file.
